NOTICE OF AMENDMENT
The following reflects an
amendment to Rule XIV. This amendment replaces the
existing rule in its entirety. The amendment became effective December 1, 2005.
Rule XIV
Foreign Legal Consultants
§ 1 General
Requirement as to Certification
In its discretion, the Supreme Court may certify to practice in Texas as a
legal consultant (a "Foreign Legal Consultant"), without examination, an
Applicant who:
(a) is a member in good standing
of a recognized legal profession in a foreign country, the members of which are
admitted to practice as attorneys or counselors at law or the equivalent and are
subject to effective regulation and discipline by a duly constituted
professional body or a public authority;
(b) for at least three of the five
years immediately preceding his or her Application has been a member in good
standing of such legal profession and has actively and substantially been
engaged in the lawful practice of law of the said foreign country in that
country or elsewhere;
(c) possesses the good moral
character and general fitness requisite for a member of the Texas Bar;
(d) is at least twenty-six (26)
years of age; and
(e) intends to practice as a
Foreign Legal Consultant in Texas and to maintain an office in Texas for that
purpose.
§ 2 Proof
Required
An Applicant under this Rule shall file with the Board, on forms designated
by the Board, accompanied by the requisite fee, an Application signed by both
the Applicant and a sponsoring member of the Texas Bar who is in good standing
and has been a member of the Bar of Texas for at least five (5) years, and
including but not limited to:
(a) a certificate from the
professional body or public authority in such foreign country having final
jurisdiction over professional discipline, certifying as to the Applicant's
admission to practice and the date thereof, and as to his or her good standing
as such attorney or counselor at law or the equivalent;
(b) a letter of recommendation from
one of the members of the executive body of such professional body or public
authority or from one of the judges of the highest law court or court of
original jurisdiction of such foreign country;
(c) a duly authenticated English
translation of such certificate and such letter if, in either case, it is not in
English;
(d) documentation in duly
authenticated form evidencing that the Applicant is lawfully entitled to reside
and be employed in the United States of America pursuant to the immigration laws
thereof; and
(e) such other evidence as to the
Applicant's educational and professional qualifications, good moral character
and fitness, and compliance with the requirements of Section 1 of this Rule as
the Board may require.
Upon completion of the Board's review of the
information submitted by the Applicant and its investigation of the Applicant's
qualifications, moral character and fitness, if the Board determines that
Applicant has satisfied the requirements of Sections 1 and 2 of this Rule, the
Board shall recommend to the Court the certification of the Applicant to
practice in Texas as a Foreign Legal Consultant.
The certification to practice in Texas as a Foreign Legal Consultant is valid
for one year, unless revoked for good cause shown, and is renewable upon the
filing with the Board of an annual request, which shall be accompanied by
(a) payment of the annual renewal fee,
(b) evidence satisfactory to the Board reflecting the completion of three hours
of Texas Mandatory Continuing Legal Education approved ethics programs, and
(c) such evidence as the Board shall deem necessary that the requirements for
the original certification continue to be met.
§ 3 Scope of
Practice
A person certified to practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule
may render legal services in Texas in the manner and to the extent permitted by
the jurisdiction in which such person is admitted to practice, subject, however,
to the limitations that he or she shall not:
(a) appear for a person other
than himself or herself as attorney in any court, or before any magistrate or
other judicial officer, in Texas;
(b) prepare any instrument
effecting the transfer or registration of title to real estate located in the
United States of America;
(c) prepare:
(i) any
will or trust instrument effecting the disposition on death of any property
located in the United States of America and owned by a resident thereof; or
(ii) any
instrument relating to the administration of a decedent's
estate in the United States of America;
(d) prepare any instrument in
respect of the marital or parental relations, rights or duties of a resident of
the United States of America or the custody or care of the children of such a
resident;
(e) render professional legal
advice on the law of Texas or of the United States of America (whether rendered
incident to the preparation of legal instruments or otherwise) except on the
basis of advice from a person duly qualified and entitled (otherwise than by
virtue of having been certified under this Rule) to render professional legal
advice in Texas on such law and with whom the Foreign Legal Consultant
(i) is
co-counsel with a Texas lawyer that has been identified to the client, or
(ii) has an
identified affiliation, employment, partnership, shareholder or other membership
relationship in or with
(A) the same law firm,
(B) a company partnership, or other entity, or
(C) a governmental agency or unit; or
(f) in any way hold himself or
herself out as a member of the Bar of Texas; or
(g) carry on his or her practice
under, or utilize in connection with such practice, any name, title or
designation other than one or more of the following:
(i) his or
her own name;
(ii) the
name of the law firm with which he or she is affiliated;
(iii) his
or her authorized title in the foreign country of his or her admission to
practice, which may be used in conjunction with the name of such country; and
(iv)
the title "Foreign Legal Consultant",
which may be used in conjunction with the words "admitted
to the practice of law in [name of the foreign country of his or her admission
to practice]".
§ 4 Rights and
Obligations
Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 3 of this Rule, a person
certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule shall be considered a
lawyer affiliated with the Bar of Texas and shall be entitled and subject to:
(a) the rights and obligations
set forth in the State Bar Act and the State Bar Rules that apply to a member of
the Bar of Texas under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct or
arising from the other conditions and requirements that apply to a member of the
Bar of Texas under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct; and
(b) the rights and obligations of a
member of the Bar of Texas with respect to:
(i)
affiliation in the same law firm with one or more members of the Bar of Texas,
including by:
(A) employing one or more members of the Bar of Texas;
(B) being employed by one or more members of the Bar of Texas or by any
partnership or professional corporation which includes members of the Bar of
Texas or which maintains an office in Texas; and
(C) being a partner in any partnership or shareholder in any professional
corporation which includes members of the Bar of Texas or which maintains an
office in Texas; and
(ii)
attorney-client privilege, work-product privilege and similar professional
privileges.
A person certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule shall not be
considered or deemed to be a nonlawyer as that term is used in either
§5.03 or 5.04 of
the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
§5 Disciplinary
Provisions
A person certified to practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule
shall be subject to professional discipline in the same manner and to the same
extent as persons admitted to the Texas Bar and to this end:
(a) Every person certified to
practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule:
(i) shall
be subject to control by the Board and to censure, suspension, removal or
revocation of his or her certification to practice by the Supreme Court and
shall otherwise be governed by Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct;
and
(ii) shall
execute and file with the Court, in such form and manner as the Board may
prescribe:
(A) his or her commitment to observe the State Bar Act, the State Bar
Rules and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct to the extent
applicable to the legal services authorized under Section 3 of this Rule;
(B) a written undertaking to notify the Board of any change in such
person's good standing as a member of the foreign legal profession referred to
in Section 1(a) of this Rule and of any final action of the professional body or
public authority referred to in Section 2(a) of this Rule imposing any
disciplinary censure, suspension, or other sanction upon such person; and
(C) a duly acknowledged instrument, in writing, setting forth his or her
address in Texas and designating the Executive Director of the Board as his or
her agent upon whom process may be served, with like effect as if served
personally upon him or her, in any action or proceeding thereafter brought
against him or her and arising out of or based upon any legal services rendered
or offered to be rendered by him or her within or to residents of Texas,
whenever after due diligence service cannot be made upon him or her at such
address or at such new address in Texas as he or she shall have filed with the
Board by means of a duly acknowledged supplemental instrument in writing.
(b) Service of process on the
Executive Director of the Board, pursuant to the designation filed as aforesaid,
shall be made by personally delivering to and leaving with the Executive
Director of the Board, or with a deputy or assistant authorized to receive such
service, at the office of the Board, duplicate copies of such process together
with a fee of $10. Service of process shall be complete when the Executive
Director of the Board has been so served. The Board shall promptly send one of
such copies to the Foreign Legal Consultant to whom the process is directed, by
certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to such Foreign Legal
Consultant at the address specified by him or her as aforesaid.
§ 6 Application
and Renewal Fees
An Applicant for certification as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule
shall pay the Foreign Legal Consultant fee in the amount specified in Rule
XVIII(a) of these Rules. A person certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant shall
pay annual renewal fees in the amount specified in Rule XVIII(a) of these Rules.
§ 7 Revocation of
Certification
If the Board determines that a person certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant
under this Rule no longer meets the requirements for certification set forth in
Sections 1(a) or 1(c) of this Rule, it shall recommend to the Court that the
certification granted to such person hereunder be revoked.
§8 Admission to
Bar
If a person certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant under this Rule is
subsequently admitted to the Texas Bar under other provisions of these Rules,
the certification granted to such person hereunder shall be deemed superseded by
the license granted to such person to practice law as a person admitted to the
Texas Bar.
§ 9 Application
for Waiver of Provisions
The Board, upon application, may in its discretion waive any provision of
this Rule in accordance with the provisions of Rule XX(e) of these Rules.
since December 9, 2005
Last modified
August 26, 2009 01:39 PM
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